A manufacturer who finds that a product he wishes to sell or a project he
wishes to develop appears to be covered by someone else's patent rights may
have to obtain a licence from the other person in order to be free to go ahead.
As discussed in the previous chapter, the first necessary step is to carry out a
full evaluation of the patent situation. This will involve checking in which
countries equivalent patent rights exist, checking that the patent rights are in
force, obtaining file inspections in at least the EPO and the USPTO (if a US
patent has been granted), checking the relevance of the prior art which has

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